The 6 most common Symptoms of Constipation

If you feel that symptoms of constipation are ruining your life than you'll want to understand what causes the problem and how to fix it. Also, what is the optimum transit time and how can you achieve it?

Well, according
to sources I've consulted, there's anything between 4 and 30 millions
Americans alone who suffer with the symptoms of constipation!

And they spend nearly 140 million dollars a year on over-the-counter laxatives.

I'd say that's a BIG problem, wouldn't you?

What is Bowel Transit Time?

Intestinal transit time, or bowel transit time, is a newer parameter of constipation that is widely used in preventive health care.

Bowel transit time is the amount of time it takes for food to go from the mouth, through the digestive system and out in the stool.

Reports
from the National Institute of Health suggest that a "normal" range of
bowel movements is from three to twenty-one each week. While this may
show what is "average", it's not a good indicator of what is "normal".

Rather than relying on just symptoms of constipation, most doctors
diagnose somebody with constipation when they pass hard stools less than
three times a week.

But really what is normal is to have one to three soft bowel movements each day.

Optimal
intestinal transit time is 12 to 24 hours, so if you have only three
bowel movements a week, your transit time is 56 hours, which is
way too long.

Testing Bowel Transit Time

Well, you've seen what the optimum transit time is. You won't be surprised to hear that the average transit time in the Western World is between 48 and 96
hours.

Most of the time this is due to not eating enough high fiber
foods or not drinking enough water

If
you think you suffer with symptoms of constipation and you want to find
out how long your transit time is you can do the following test:

Buy charcoal tablets at a pharmacy or health food store.

Take 5-10 grams (5,000 - 10,000 milligrams) on an empty stomach.

Note exactly when you took the charcoal.

When
you see the darkened stools (charcoal will turn the stool black),
calculate how many hours since you took the charcoal tablets. This is
your transit time.

You can also do your test with beets or beetroots. Eating 3 to 4 whole beets will turn your stool a deep garnet red.

Evaluating The Results

Less than twelve hours: This usually indicates that you're not
absorbing all the nutrients you should from your food. You may have
malabsorption problems.

Twelve to twenty-four hours: This is the optimal transit time.

More than twenty-four hours: This indicates that wastes are sitting inside your colon for too long.

Why does this matter? Apart from making you feel uncomfortable, poor transit time can give rise to all sorts of side effects.

Side Effects of Constipation

Although constipation in itself is not a disease but a symptom, it
can, in turn, give rise to many different ailments, including
appendicitis, bad breath, body odour, coated tongue, depression,
diverticulitis, fatigue, gas, headaches, hemorrhoids (piles), hernia,
indigestion, insomnia, malabsorption syndrome, obesity and varicose
veins.

It may even be involved in the development of serious diseases such as bowel cancer.

Regular bowel movements are an important mechanism for removing toxins from the body.

The
colon serves as a holding tank for waste matter. Constipation may cause the reabsorption of toxins from bowel bacteria and undigested food particles and this may play a role in the
development of diabetes mellitus, meningitis, myasthenia gravis,
thyroid disease, candidiasis, chronic gas and bloating, migraines,
fatigue and ulcerative colitis.

What should you do if you suffer
with constipation symptoms? Well, have a look at the next few pages to
find out what healing foods can help you solve the problem.